Marathi and Punjabi Warmth Gets New Manifestation

          Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal (right) presenting a sword to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis as Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu (center) looks on.

The warmth of relations between Marathi and Punjabi received a new manifestation on Sunday as leaders from the two states thanked each other and announced a slew of measures for promoting each other’s culture in both states.
As the 88^th All India Marathi Literary Meet concluded in Ghuman in Punjab, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders showered praise on both the cultures. Maharashtra’s Cultural Affairs Minister Vinod Tawade, Dnyanpeeth Awardee Kashmiri author Rehman Rahi, communist leader Jatinder Pannu were present on the occasion.
This is the first time that the Marathi meet was held in Punjab which the latter had declared as its official event. It provided all the infrastructure and hospitality facilities for the three day meet which was appreciated by all. Around 7000 people from Maharashtra camped in the small town of Ghuman, about 40 kms from Amritsar. The town is known for the memorial of Shiromani Bhagat Namdev, originally Sant Namdev from Maharashtra. Pune-based NGO Sarhad and Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal were the organizers of the meet.
Speaking on the occasion, Prabhu said, “While Marathi literary meet has truly crossed threshold this year, Punjab is the food bowl of India. Punjab and Maharashtra's relations are extraordinary. We can never think where martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev & Rajguru came from. Marathi people love bhagat Singh more than Rajguru. Marathi literary meet may help generate such gems for India. I am sure that literature can literary persons can bring people together.”
In his address, Badal said that it is Punjab’s tradition to respect all the religion on the world equally. He proposed that such an event should be held every year so that this exchange would go further. He reminded that Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal had promised to set up a Chair in the Guru Nanak Devji University in Amritsar in the name of Baba Namdev. Badal also demanded that Ghuman should be brought on the railway map so that devotees from both the states can travel directly to the respective states.
Appreciating and reciprocating this gesture, Fadnavis said, “The literature lays the foundation for bridging linguistic and cultural barriers. I fully endorse Badal’s proposal and we will try to organize Punjabi festival in Maharashtra every year. Also, I announce that we will set up Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Chair in Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University at Nanded. Digitization can do everything but it can't create sensibilities. Only literature can create sensibilities. Literature has infuse confidence in common man to fight adeversities and that larger community is behind him.”
All the leaders and dignitaries present in the ceremony, including Gen. (Retd.) J. J. Singh, Sikkim’s Governor Srinivas Patil, Pannu and Tawade thanked the Punjabi people and government for the excellent hospitality given by them.
Earlier in the day, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi too have extended his warm greetings for this literary fest. Expressing gratitude of Punjab government in conducting this event, he said that he was thankful to the Chief Minister Punjab Prakash Singh Badal and the Punjab government on behalf of entire Maratha community for their hospitality.

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Maharashtrians Enjoy the Punjabi Hospitality

The 88th edition of the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (ABMSS) has given the Maharashtrians the occasion to enjoy the hospitality of the Punjabi people. The entire Ghuman village in Gurdaspur district has turned into Mini Maharashtra for the last threee days.

The literary meet,surprisingly, has become centre of attraction for many. The guests from Maharashtra are not only enjoying the Marathi programmes, but are also relishing the Punjabi programmes and most of all, the food. Every village in the town, apart from the Gurudwaras dotting the horizons, are filled with langars offering free food, tea, refreshments and even sugarcane juice.

Those visiting Punjab for the first time are having gala time and really enjoying the attention they are getting. Today, Vinod Tawade, Minister of Education and Culture of Maharashtra, visited the media center and said that even Maharashtra would not offer such hospitality as extended by the Punjab government. Many people I spoke to said that they would relish the moments spent in Punjab for the rest of their life.

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Marathi Literary Meet in Punjab Creates Buzz

The 88th Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (literary meet) is to take place next month at Ghuman, Punjab. The choice of location has aroused quite an amount of curiosity. This is the first time that the annual meet is taking place in such a far away place. Everybody is anxious to know what happens to this mega event in a land where Marathi speaking population is scarcely available.

Organizing the literary meet out of Maharashtra is not a new development. This has happened earlier also and the Sammelans at Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Belgaum (Karnataka) or Vadodara (Gujarat) in the past have left their mark in cultural life of Marathi speaking populace. One meet was held even in New Delhi. Actually, the demand for United Maharashtra, a separate state for Marathi people, was made in such a meet at Belgaum. Still, the meet, which will take place in first week of April, has created a sort of buzz in Maharashtra.

Ghuman is situated in Punjab but its claim to fame is the samadhi- the memorial - of Sant Namdev, the 13th century saint poet who went to Punjab and spread the message of Bhagavat Dharma. Even though venerated by Punjab's population for almost nine centuries, it was almost forgotten place for Maharashtrians.

The initiative to hold this meet at Ghuman came from Sarhad, an NGO from Pune and its head Sanjay Nahar. When Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, the organizing body for the meet, finalized this location as the next meet, everyone was puzzled. How will a meet, focused on Marathi language, be successful in a land where Marathi was not spoken for centuries and is not spoken even now.

However, the sarpanch and other functionaries from the village in Punjab visited Pune more than once and assured their full cooperation. Their gestures have shown a renewed cordiality which has made everyone yearn to go that land.

However, there is some roadblocks in the way. The Marathi publishers have decided to boycott the event saying that nobody would buy their books in Punjab where hardly anybody knows Marathi language. This threatens to be a major headache as large chunk of Sammelan’s revenue comes from the fees collected from the publishers to set up their stalls.

Nevertheless, Marathi literary meet has an extraordinary place in the cultural arena of Maharashtra.

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